Kagawa absence due to overeating

Manchester United boss David Moyes has revealed that Shinji Kagawa missed the 1-0 defeat to Newcastle after eating too much and having his stomach pumped.

The Japan star has failed to assert himself under Moyes, while the champions struggle in mid-table after a run that has seen them claim only 22 points from their first 14 games. A second successive home defeat on Saturday to Newcastle made the situation a full blown crisis according to some, but eyebrows will now be raised over Kagawa's bizarre absence.

"Shinji was very sick after the [Everton] game and he did a bit of training on Friday but he was low," Moyes told the official United website. "All of the stats that we look at were low so we felt we had better not take a risk in case we got an injury by playing him...

"It was a bad sickness. He thinks he ate too much, and he had to get his stomach pumped, but I think he is okay."